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Renovations improving look of town
To the Editor:
A year or so ago I intended to write and commend the folks at Sylva Rental for the great job they did to improve their building.
Now we have a beautiful building going up at the junction of N.C. 107 and N.C. 116; Pizza Hut came to N.C. 107; Zaxby’s took the old Hardee’s and made an eye-catching place of it; Bogart’s improved the look of the Pancake Barn; and Haywood Builders converted the tire store to a nice-looking retail outlet. Of course the new Eckerd’s was a great improvement in that area.
Going on into town, the next two improvements really get your attention. First is Papou’s Wine and Cheese Shop along with Carolina Cigar Co. This old service station had been an eyesore for years. Next is the auto dealership that is getting a makeover for a furniture store. These two places and the work done on Mill Street last summer almost make it a pleasure to come into town.
I can appreciate what all these folks have done since I have been through what they are doing. Cleaning up and remodeling is hard work and expensive, so I hope they all do well.
And, yes, I love the new Lowe’s, but not seeing the green space that was there will take getting used to.
The Sylva Herald is right in that we will not get a new library or a new post office in 2007. I doubt that we will get any of the big players in the restaurant business either; there is still not enough permanent population.
Lee Ewart
Sylva
Autism program has lost great teacher
To the Editor:
I am writing you today to express my sorrow over the loss of a wonderful teacher at Jackson County School of Alternatives – Kathy Dolbee.
No, she did not die, but it feels just the same to parents like me, whose children with autism she has changed for the better. I met her almost two years ago, when I thought no other school would care.
Parents of autistic children fight school systems every day.
Autistic children are some of the most misunderstood people I have ever met. Kathy Dolbee was the one who designed a program to specifically meet the needs of autistic children. She is also a mother of an autistic child, and she loved our kids with a fierce love that matched my own. How rare is that. She was moved to another school for undisclosed administrative reasons that have not been explained to us parents. Now I’m afraid of what I have to face with my child yet again. I am the president/co-leader of the Jackson, Swain, Qualla Boundary Chapter of the Autism Society, a parent support group. I see the devastation of what can happen to children with autism, parents tell me of abuse from other teachers and schools, children being bullied in their previous schools. Autistic children are not a planned phenomenon in wealthy families – autism is in every part of the world, every ethnic background, every social background and every class of society.
I am left with burning questions: What happens to our children when they grow up? What future do autistic children have? Why can’t more people care about our children like this teacher did? Why do we have to fight so hard just to see our children graduate? Why does every school year have to be a struggle?
In my 10 years of dealing with autism, I have only found a small handful of people who are willing to understand what autism means to our kids and the struggle they endure every day. Kathy is one of those people, and so is Eastern Band of Cherokee Chief Michell Hicks. To these people I say “thank you from the depth of my very being.”
Please help us bring awareness in this new year. Please support local support groups like mine and the Autism Society of North Carolina.
Brandi West
Bryson City
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